General Spanky
Production Notes Length: Seventy-One Minutes Producer: Hal Roach and Sidney Van Keuren Director: Gordon Doglas and Fred Newmeyer Photography: Art Lloyd and Walter Lundin Editor: Ray Snyder Writer: Unrevealed Music: Marvin Hatley Sound Effects: Elmer A. Raguse and William Randall Special Effects: Roy Seawright Set Director: Arthur I. Royce and William I. Stevens Casting: Joe Rivkin Released: December 11, 1936 Studio: M-G-M Main Cast * Carl Switzer * Dickie De Nuet * Eugene Lee * George McFarland * Harold Switzer * Jerry Tucker (actor) * John Collum * William Thomas Jr. Supporting Cast * Alex Finlayson - - Extra * Buddy Roosevlt - First Lieutenant * Carl Voss - Second Lieutenant * Ernie Alexander - Extra * Frank H. LaRue - Extra * Ham Kinsey - Extra * Harry Bernard - Extra * Harry Strang - Extra * Henry Hall - Slavemaster * Hobart Bosworth - Captain Blanchard * Hooper Atchley - Slavemaster * Irving Pichel - Simmons * Jack Cooper - Extra * Jack Daugherty - Captain's Aide * Jack Hill - Extra * James Burtis - Boat Captain * Karl Hackett - Extra * Louise Beavers - Cornelia aka "Mammy" * Philip Holmes - Marshall Valiant * Portia Lanning - Extra * Ralph Morgan - Yankee General * Richard Niell - Extra * Robert Middlemass - Overseer * Rosina Lawrence - Louella Blanchard * Slim Whittaker - Extra * Walter Gregory - Captain Haden * Willie Best - Henry The Film Plot: In a departure to the (then) comtemporary era of the time, Spanky is now an orphan shoeshine boy on a Mississippi riverboat durig the Civil War, and Buckwheat is part of a consignment of slaves who gets lost. The two of them attract the wrath of Simmons, a crooked gambler, and flee to a plantation where Spanky is reunited with Marshall Valiant, an old friend preparing to enter into combat. He leaves Spanky to watch over the plantation and protect the beautiful Louella, so Spanky builds an army of kids to help him defend the plantation from the Yankees. The Union army coming through is being led by Simmons himself, and Spanky's forces launch an impressive defense to the point that Simmons can be turned away and discredited before his superiors. Valiant by now returns after being wounded in battle. Spanky and his forces even make friends with a Northern general. Quotes: None Notes/Trivia: * "General Spanky" was inspired by the success of the Shirley Temple movies The Little Colonel and The Littlest Rebel. * Since "General Spanky" was only a moderate success, Hal Roach turned away from any future Our Gang feature films to focus mostly on shorts. * "General Spanky" was nominated for for an Academy Award in 1936 for Best Sound Recording. * The Civil War stock footage was borrowed from Buster Keaton's "The General" and D. W. Griffith's "Abraham Lincoln." * The movie features a real riverboat called The Cherokee filmed on the Sacramento River to simulate the Mississippi River. * In 1935, Hal Roach had written a script for a proposed Our Gang feature film titled Crook's Incorporated. The film was to have costarred Hal Roach Studios stars Charley Chase, Thelma Todd, and Patsy Kelly. * Eugene Lee was absent from a majority of shooting for this film. As a result, he only appears in a few longshots. * Darla Hood is absent from this film, possibly since she was busy working in the Charley Chase film Neighborhood House. Sequence * Previous Short: Spooky Hooky * Next Short: Reunion In Rhythm ---- Category: Feature Film Category: 1936